Sin City Collectors Boxed Set: Queen of Hearts, Dead Man's Hand, Double or Nothing

by Kristen Painter

  The emotional wound was raw and open, and the words she had wanted to say for so long came pouring out. “You used to love me so much I thought the happiness we shared had to be unique to us alone. I couldn’t imagine any woman could be loved any more than you loved me. I couldn’t imagine”—she swallowed against the pain in her chest—“spending the rest of my life with anyone else.”

  He stopped. “I…” The wildness in his eyes faded.

  “Do you still feel any of that, Gage?” She found a little of the old anger. Enough to keep herself from melting down in front of him. “Or was your love for me just a show? Just a game to get what you wanted?”

  “No.” He sank to his knees and put one hand on the floor in front of him, bracing himself. His head dropped. “It wasn’t a show.”

  She could sense the fight going out of him as he regained control. She gave him a minute, then quietly asked, “Are you back?”

  He nodded. “I am.” His words were barely audible, but the pain came through loud and clear.

  She went down to her knees as close to him as she dared, hoping that his body would hide her from the cameras. If their captor could read lips, whispering wasn’t going to help. “You need to feed.”

  His head stayed down. “I know. But…no.” He sighed.

  “You’re worried you won’t be able to stop yourself.”

  “Yes.” He turned his head but still didn’t look at her. “The Alchemist knows what he’s doing, pushing me to the edge like this.”

  “You’ve fed from me many times. You’ve never had an issue taking too much.”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Look at me, Gage.”

  He lifted his head.

  She inched closer, keeping her voice as low as possible. “You can do this. You have to. We have no hope of getting out of here if you’re not in top form. Besides, I think I have a plan to draw our captor out.”

  New life shone in his eyes. “Does this mean you trust me?”

  She hesitated. Lying wasn’t going to help either of them. “In the short term, yes. Beyond getting out of here? No.”

  He nodded, his disappointment palpable. “I do, you know.”

  She squinted. “Do what?”

  “Love you. I never stopped.”

  She bit the inside of her cheek and looked away. The wound she’d opened to talk him down throbbed.

  As if sensing her discomfort, he let the moment drop. “What’s your plan?”

  She forced away the prickly sensation his confession had caused and focused on the now. “First, we get you fed and in full control again. But we have to be sly about it. We can’t let the Alchemist know. You’ve got to keep up the ruse that you’re starving and on the verge of going full beast.”

  Gage nodded slowly. “I see where you’re headed. I think.”

  She scooted closer. A centimeter separated their knees. “Once you’re ready, we stage a scene. Make it look like you’re attacking me, draining me to death, just like he wants. That’s got to draw him out, don’t you think?”

  “It’s what he wants. It should work. But won’t he wonder why I’m not attacking you now?”

  She shrugged one shoulder. “Let him think I’ve talked you down.”

  “Which you did.”

  “So you feed now, but we keep it secret so that all he knows is that you were able to regain control over your hunger one last time.”

  “Understood.” He sighed softly. “There will have to be blood during this mock attack.”

  “I know.” She made a whatever face. “You’ll have to find a way to lure him down here. Then when he comes in, you break through the bars and subdue him.”

  Gage furrowed his brows. “But that will set the bells off.”

  “We’ll do it on your side, that way I won’t be directly under them. I’ll plug my ears with ripped-off bits of my tank top. It’ll still hurt like a mother, but I should be able to survive until you can shut them off.”

  “What if I can’t shut them off?” He frowned. “It’s too much of a risk.”

  “Then you get me the hell out of here.” She leaned in. “I’m tired of being toyed with. I want out.”

  “I do, too.” He studied her for a moment. “You’re sure about this?”

  “Yes. You’ll need to feed from my wrist. Then I can put my jacket back on and hide the mark.” Even with her supernatural abilities to heal, it would take about twenty-four hours for his bite to vanish entirely. Until then, she’d have two small puncture marks that would give away what they’d done.

  Something dark and feral crossed through his gaze, but it wasn’t the kind of untamed hunger she’d just seen in him. This time it was desire.

  She held a finger up. “This doesn’t mean anything. You know that, right? I’m just doing what’s necessary to get us out of here.”

  “Got it.” His jaw notched to one side, but she couldn’t be concerned with his disappointment. This was an escape plan, nothing else. He glanced back at the glass window. “How do you want to do this?”

  “As stealthily as possible.”

  He stretched out longwise with his back to the glass. “Lay in front of me. Facing me.”

  She slipped in next to him, feeling for the first time just how cold he was. A sure sign he needed blood. “I’m going to tear some strips off my tank now so that’s done.”

  “Go ahead.”

  She kept her movements small and used the knife to make two clean cuts. The strips came off easily. She balled them up and tucked them into her front pocket. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  He took her hand, shielding her from sight with his body. “You’re trembling.”

  “No, I’m not.” Maybe she was. A little. But she hadn’t been this close to him in a long time. Scratch that. She hadn’t been this close to a dangerous, half-starved vampire in a long time. That’s what she was afraid of. Not him. Not the way he made her feel. “You’re cold. It made me shiver.”

  He made a face, that quirky little half smile that meant, Okay, sure. He turned her hand so that her wrist faced him. Inches from his mouth. “You still have the knife?”

  “It’s on the floor behind me. Why?”

  “Keep it handy.” He looked at her wrist. “If…anything happens, if I can’t stop, do whatever you have to do to get me off you.”

  “How about you just don’t let it get to that point?”

  “That’s my goal. I promise.”

  “Do it then. Before I change my mind.” She closed her eyes, bracing for the bite and the moment of pain before it turned pleasurable. She had no intention of letting him see any emotion on her face. No intention of giving him the satisfaction of what they’d once shared.

  The bite didn’t come. Instead, his mouth, soft but firm, gentle yet insistent, found her wrist. He kissed her skin in easy, feathery motions that trailed from the base of her palm to halfway toward her elbow while his thumb stroked the back of her hand.

  Her eyes opened at the same time as her mouth, but no sound came out. It took her a second to find her words. “That’s not what you’re supposed to be doing,” she hissed.

  His mouth stayed on her wrist as his gaze lifted to her. “I’m not a monster,” he breathed over her skin. “If you’re cold, I need to warm you up. Helps with the blood flow. You know that.”

  His grip was a little firmer as he went back to torturing her skin with his mouth. The trail of kisses turned more serious with small nips and the tease of his tongue. Her traitorous body responded against her wishes, tightening and softening and tingling in places that had no business giving in to his sly ways.

  “Please,” she whispered, desperate for him to feed and be done before her body betrayed her completely.

  He smiled against her skin. “There’s my girl.”

  “I’m not your—oh…oh…”

  His teeth sank into her flesh, and the pain she’d braced for never came. Instead, a deep, intoxicating warmth suffused her veins, drugging her in the most delicious way.
Her head tipped back as her eyes drifted shut. She remembered this. The way he could turn her joints to jelly and give her that utterly irreplaceable floating feeling. Which was usually followed by the desire to—she inhaled sharply. There it was. The hot rush of need.

  She wanted to grind her hips against him, to tear at his clothes and rake her nails down his skin. To mark him as hers.

  His fangs sank a little deeper, making her writhe. She wanted to bite him back, and had on many occasions. Instead, she clamped her mouth shut and turned away as much as possible.

  This is just to get out, she told herself. Just to stay alive.

  Despite that, her hand found its way to his chest. She spread her fingers on the hard plane of muscle there. He was already warming. That only made her want to touch him without fabric between them. Skin on skin. Just like the old days. A soft mewl of pleasure met her ears. She realized it had come from her. She rolled her lips in, on the verge of giving in to the urge to climb on top of him and—

  He released her wrist, stroked his tongue across the twin punctures to close them, then sighed deeply. “Thank you. I feel like a new man. Completely in control.”

  She inhaled, even though she wanted to sob. She wasn’t done. Wasn’t ready for it to be over. She said nothing.

  He kissed the place his mouth had just been before removing his hand from her skin. “You should sleep. We both should, if we can.”

  She nodded and clutched her wrist to her chest. He draped his arm over her, pulling her even closer. She put her forehead to his chest. “I hate this.” She wasn’t entirely sure what she hated in that moment, but it was something. Not him. But it was something.

  “I know,” he said. “I hate it, too.”

  “Will you need to feed again?”

  “No.” His voice was soft. “We can work on getting out of here as soon as we’re rested.”

  She nodded into his chest. “Good.” She closed her eyes, not expecting to sleep, but hoping she could. Otherwise, she was going to spend several long torturous hours curled against a man she both despised and desired.

  Because that was the truth of it right there. If Gage had never betrayed her, they’d still be together. Probably married by now. But he had betrayed her. And refused to tell her why.

  She sighed deeply.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  She almost laughed. No, nothing was okay. “Fine,” she murmured. Maybe when they got out of here, she’d give him one last chance to explain what had happened. Didn’t mean she’d take him back.

  But maybe…

  The moment Minka had drifted off, he’d separated from her and gone back to his side of the cell. Being so close to her was its own special kind of torture. Tasting her had been even more torturous, but also a pleasure he’d never thought he’d have the privilege of experiencing again. And despite her efforts to the contrary, she had clearly enjoyed it, too.

  But when she’d willingly tucked herself against his chest and stayed there, next to him, the way she had every night when they’d been together, he’d almost lost his control for a completely different reason. She could protest all she wanted, but he believed there was still a chance for them.

  And he planned to get that chance as soon as they got out of here and he found Blackwell and took care of that loose end.

  Until then, Gage crouched in the far corner, leaning on the bars and staring toward the window and the cameras.

  The cameras had followed him when he’d moved, so the Alchemist was definitely watching. The single bank of dim fluorescents had stayed on, plenty for Gage to see by, but how much their captor was able to make out Gage wasn’t sure. From dealing with him before, Gage knew the Alchemist was human. Skilled beyond human capacity, thanks to his knowledge of the supernatural, but human nonetheless.

  Gage tipped his head back against the bars. He’d dozed a little. Not daysleep. More like a catnap. Hard to sleep when your captor was making you the brunt of his sick games. Gage had no idea what the Alchemist intended to subject them to next, but he didn’t intend to see it played out. Instead, he and Minka would be giving the Alchemist a show of their own.

  Minka shifted and yawned. By his internal clock, she’d been out only a few hours, but for a supe like her, that should be enough to let her recover from donating her blood and put her back on her game.

  He was anxious to put their plan into motion and knew she wanted out as much as he did. With that thought, he tore the thong from his hair, letting it fall wild. Then he fixed his face into a tormented mask, pushed to his feet and started pacing, making sure to glare menacingly at her each time he turned.

  She sat up, her gaze full of questions for a split second, then recognition set in. She quickly pulled her jacket on, covering the tiny marks left behind from his bite, then got to her knees, turned away from the window and sneaked the fabric from her front pocket.

  Once she’d plugged her ears, he went into full-on hungry vampire.

  “Get away from me,” he snarled.

  The lights around the window kicked on, flooding the space and making them each squint as their eyes adjusted. The shadowy figure reappeared behind the glass. Let the show begin.

  She stood and backed up against the bars, looking appropriately worried. “There’s nowhere for me to go.”

  He went to the bars closest to the window, making sure the Alchemist could see how hungry he was. “I need to feed.”

  As if on cue, the Alchemist chimed in. “Which is why I provided you with the pixie.”

  Gage turned slowly toward Minka, his head tipped down but his eyes fixed on her. With as much menace as he could gather, he again said, “I need to feed.”

  The Alchemist encouraged him. “You should, vampire. No reason for both of you to die here, is there?”

  That made it sound as though the Alchemist was going to let Gage live if he killed Minka. Gage doubted that very highly. He let the Alchemist think otherwise and took a few steps toward Minka.

  She brandished the knife. “Don’t make me hurt you, Gage.”

  “Hurt me?” Gage laughed.

  “I’ll do it,” she threatened. “I’ll kill you if I have to.”

  “Excellent,” the Alchemist muttered. “A battle royal. But we all know who’s going to win, don’t we?” He laughed. “Drain her, vampire.”

  Gage advanced. “Come here, Minka. Stop fighting the inevitable.”

  She raised the blade. “Stay away from me.” Her gaze flicked to the window. “Let me out of here. He’s going to kill me.”

  “Precisely the point,” the Alchemist answered. “But feel free to make a good show of defending yourself. That’s more of a chance than my wife was given.”

  Gage and Minka exchanged guarded looks. Whether or not the Alchemist’s slip was intentional, he’d just confirmed for them who he was.

  Gage gave her a small nod that he was about to attack. She returned his nod and stood there bravely, even though he knew she had to be a little apprehensive about what was about to go down.

  He lifted his head and bellowed with the rage of a starving vampire. She shrieked and cowered against the bars. He lunged, knocking the blade from her hand far more easily than he should have been able. He took that as a promising sign of her trust.

  She fought, pounding on his chest and punching at him to get away. He took the blows as he snagged her around the waist and lifted her, pinning her arms with a hard embrace. He made sure they were facing away from the cameras and the window. “I’ll do my best not to hurt you,” he whispered.

  “Same here,” she whispered back.

  What she meant by that, he wasn’t sure.

  Then she rammed her head into his chin, making him see stars and taste blood. His own. The shock of it was enough for her to wriggle free. He cursed and found some real anger to play off of. “You must want to die, pixie.”

  Gleeful sounds came from the Alchemist’s direction.

  Minka faced Gage, the twinkle in her eyes making it a
ll too clear that she was enjoying beating on him. “I’m not going down without a fight, bloodsucker.”

  He made a grab for her, but she dodged, slipping past him with a shot to the kidneys and a smirk that reeked of satisfaction. Apparently, she’d wanted to give him a thrashing for a while. He understood. If it helped even things between them, he’d take whatever she had to dish out.

  They exchanged a few more easy blows until he’d positioned her as far from the bells as possible. At least his were easy. She might be small, but she packed a wallop and he’d have bruises to show for it tomorrow. He was also ready for both of them to be free of this place. He started left, causing her to go right, then quickly changed direction and took her down. They went to the ground with him on top. They hit hard enough that her air left her in a soft whuff.

  Panic danced in her eyes. He eased off slightly, enough that the Alchemist wouldn’t notice but so she could still catch her breath. The panic receded.

  “Finish her,” the Alchemist urged.

  Gage lifted his head toward the window and snarled while Minka made a show of struggling.

  “Don’t like to be watched, do you, vampire?”

  Gage shifted so his body obstructed more of the Alchemist’s view. If the man wanted to see what was going on, he’d have to come down in person. Gage held Minka’s arms to the floor and bent over her. His hair spilled over his shoulders, hiding them further. “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  Without preparing her as he had before, he sank his fangs into her neck. He knew it would hurt that way, but he needed her reaction to look real.

  She cried out, arching beneath him.

  The door behind them opened and closed, and the smell of chemicals, stale cigarettes and coffee filled the room. The Alchemist had arrived. Gage drank with the careless abandon of the newly turned, smearing blood over his face and Minka’s neck. It disgusted him, but this needed to be convincing.

  Minka knew it, too. She fought as best she could, slowly but visually getting weaker and weaker until she stopped moving altogether. From the beating of her heart, Gage could tell she was doing just fine. At last, Gage sat back on his heels. He wiped a hand across his face, smearing the blood even further and giving their captor something else to look at besides Minka’s still-breathing body.